22 FEBRUARY 2018

On the Move: SecondsOut World Rankings 9/29/13

Stevenson is No.1 at light heavy

By Derek Bonnett: The cries of robbery are running rampant among boxing fans across the world. This is no new story as boxing judges from country to country are criticized for handing in scorecards which boggle the imagination. Who is to blame for all of the this? Well, obviously the officials, who are clearly not watching the fights. Who else? I’d like to incriminate another party and that is the fans. How can the fans be responsible for bad scoring by officials, you ask? Simply put, they are not. They are responsible, however, for poor interpretations of fights on their own scorecards and confusing the difference between bad scoring and a robbery.

Last night’s bout between Julio Cesar Chavez elicited yet another outcry against boxing judges and demands for boxing reform in this area. Anyone watching the contest knew that Chavez did not prevail over Brian Vera by margins of six or four points. The scorecards compiled by Gwen Adair and Marty Denkin could fairly be classified as bad scoring. However, judge Carla Caiz’ tally of 96-94 seemed like a pretty fair presentation of the bout. Had Vera prevailed by a similar score, I don’t think we would hear much complaint. This is because the bout was hotly contested between a busy fighter who landed more frequently and a less active fighter who landed more effectively. Had Vera won by the scores yielded by Adair and Denkin, I feel the decision would still have been one that was scored poorly. That is not to say that I cannot envision a Vera win.

The fact of the matter is that the Chavez-Vera clash was close. Very close. My unofficial scorecard favored Chavez by one point. Over the first six rounds, Chavez landed solidly on Vera and often set him back on his heels or moved him off balance. I personally favored that over the more active work of Vera, which had little impact on Chavez over that same period of time. Vera’s late round surge certainly made the fight too close for comfort, but he came up short. At best, he just edged a decision. Adair and Denkin got the point differential wrong, but there was no robbery here, folks. That term is tossed around far too casually. Call it a Chavez or Vera win by a point or two and you have an accurate depiction of last night’s HBO main event.

On Saturday, September 28, at Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Adonis Stevenson forced Tavoris Cloud into a seventh round corner retirement a WBC light heavyweight title bout. Cloud was cut over both eyes and surrendered officially at the 3:00 mark. Stevenson raised his ledger to 22-1 (19). Cloud fell to 24-2 (19).

Stevenson affirmed his ascension to number one on the SecondsOut light heavyweight rankings. Cloud fell from eighth to tenth. Andrzej Fonfara moved from tenth to eighth.

Also on the card, Jean Pascal scored a fifth round TKO of George Blades in a light heavyweight bout. Three knockdowns in the fifth forced a stoppage at the 2:54 mark. Pascal raised his record to 28-2 (17) after the nine month layoff. Blades crashed to 23-5 (16).

Pascal held his number four ranking among SecondsOut top light heavyweights and now eyes a January date with Lucian Bute.

Also in this date, at Mega Plaza Norte, Lima, Peru, Alberto Rossel won a majority decision over Jose Alfredo Zuniga in a twelve round interim WBA light flyweight title bout. Rossel defended the interim belt for the third time in raising his record to 31-8 (13). Zuniga fell to 11-5-1 (5).

Rossel continues to cling onto his number ten SecondsOut ranking at 108-pounds.

Also on this date, at StubHub Center, Carson, California, USA, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. won an unpopular unanimous decision over Brian Vera in a ten round light heavyweight bout. Chavez won by scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94. His record now stands at 47-1-1 (32). Vera fell to 23-7 (14).

Chavez had been removed from the SecondsOut rankings for inactivity. He does not enter the light heavyweight rankings based on this win. Vera held onto his number ten middleweight ranking at SecondsOut since he will likely return to the division.

Also on the card, Diego Magdaleno defeated Edgar Riovalle in a ten round super featherweight bout. All three judges scored the bout 100-90. Magdaleno lifted his dossier to 24-1 (9). Riovalle fell to 36-16-2 (25).

Also on the card, Karim Mayfield stopped late substitute Christopher Fernandez in the eighth round of a junior welterweight bout. Fernandez hit the canvas twice in the fourth and again in the eighth. The stoppage came at the 2:59 mark. Mayfield raised his professional credentials to 18-0-1 (11). Fernandez crashed to 21-16-1 (13).

Mayfield kept his number eight SecondsOut ranking among the world’s best 140-pounders.